Executive/Cabinet Rank Members/VP
The Vice President of the United States until recently was a token position given to candidates who couldn't possibly win the Presidency themselves, but could influence enough votes in a few key states to help their party's ticket. Some exceptions to this rule include Joe Lieberman and Lloyd Bentsen. For Trivia about the Vice President, click here. History Of The Vice Presidency The Vice President was originally in charge of sneaking hookers, drugs and alcohol in and out of the President's office. But the position became largely ceremonial as the Chief of Staff to the President gradually assumed those responsibilites. In the late 18th and ealry 19th centuries, the Vice President took on the duty of Fire Marshal, preventing various residences of the President from being burned to the ground by Loyalists and other British sympathizers. This policy failed miserably in 1812 under Vice President George Clinton, who was took busy setting up his shadow government, the Parliament Funkadelic, to notice there was a War of 1812 going on. From 1813 until 2000, the Vice President's main duty was to lift his running mate's arm into the air at election rallies, to stand solemnly in the background at photo opportunites, and to bend over and take it when the First Lady had a "headache." Since the 2000 election of Richard "Dick" Cheney, running mate of George W. Bush, the Vice Presidency is a job where the person holding this office is actually the boss of the person holding the office of President. No other Vice President has ever posessed this kind of power, because no one can wield it like Dick can. From this lofty aerie, Vice President Cheney is able to hand down no-bid contracts, engage in foreign diplomacy and out CIA agents. Presidents And The Vice Presidents They Served US PRESIDENTS US VICE PRESIDENTS George Washington (1789 - 1797) John Adams (1789 - 1797) John Adams (1797 - 1801) Thomas Jefferson (1797 - 1801) Thomas Jefferson (1801 - 1809) Aaron Burr (1801 - 1805) George Clinton (1805 - 1809) James Madison (1809-1817) George Clinton (1809-1812) none (1812-1813) Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814) none (1814-1817) James Monroe (1817-1825) Daniel D. Tompkins (1817-1825) John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) John C. Calhoun (1825-1829) Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) John C. Calhoun (1829-1832) none (1832-1833) Martin Van Buren (1833-1837) Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) Richard M. Johnson (1837-1841) William Henry Harrison (1841) John Tyler (1841) John Tyler (1841-1845) none (1841-1845) James K. Polk (1845-1849) George M. Dallas (1845-1849) Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) Mallard Fillmore (1849-1850) Mallard Fillmore (1850-1853) none (1850-1853) Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) William R.D. King (1853) none (1853-1857) James Buchanan (1857-1861) John C. Breckinridge (1857-1861) Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865) Andrew Johnson (1865) Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) none (1865-1869) Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) Schuyler Colfax (1869-1873) Henry Wilson (1873-1875) none (1875-1877) Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) William A. Wheeler (1877-1881) James A. Garfield (1881) Chester A. Arthur (1881) Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) none (1881-1885) Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) Thomas A. Hendricks (1885) none (1885-1889) Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) Levi P. Morton (1889-1893) Grover Cleveland (1893-1897) Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-1897) William McKinley (1897-1901) Garret A. Hobart (1897-1899) none (1899-1901) Theodore Roosevelt (1901) Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) none (1901-1905) Charles W. Fairbanks (1905-1909) William Howard Taft (1909-1913) James S. Sherman (1909-1912) none (1912-1913) Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) Thomas R. Marshall (1913-1921) Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) Calvin Coolidge (1921-1923) Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) none (1923-1925) Charles G. Dawes (1925-1929) Herbert Clark Hoover (1929-1933) Charles Curtis (1929-1933) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) John N. Garner (1933-1941) Henry A. Wallace (1941-1945) Harry S Truman (1945) Harry S Truman (1945-1953) none (1945-1949) Alben W. Barkley (1949-1953) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) Richard M. Nixon (1953-1961) John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) Lyndon B. Johnson (1961-1963) Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) none (1963-1965) Hubert H. Humphrey (1965-1969) Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) Spiro T. Agnew (1969-1973) none (1973) Gerald R. Ford (1973-1974) Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977) none (1974) Nelson A. Rockefeller (1974-1977) Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) Walter F. Mondale (1977-1981) Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) George Bush (1981-1989) George Bush (1989-1993) Dan Quayle (1989-1993) Bill Clinton (1993-2001) Al Gore (1993-2001) George W. Bush (2001-2009 ) Dick Cheney (2001-2009 ) Yo-Yo Ma (2009- ) Cello (2009- ) Vacancies In The Office Of Vice President Time Period Reason for Vacancy 1812-1813 George Clinton dies in office, makes the Mothership Connection 1814-1817 Elbridge Gerry died in office due to shame of being named Elbridge 1832-1833 John C. Calhoun, coward, resigned from office 1841-1845 John Tyler became President upon the death of William Henry Harrison 1850-1853 Mallard Fillmore, a cartoon duck, became President upon the death of Zachary Taylor 1853-1857 William King died in office. No more Kings 1865-1869 Andrew Johnson became President upon the death of Abraham Lincoln 1875-1877 Henry Wilson died in office 1881-1885 Chester Arthur became President upon the death of James Garfield 1885-1889 Thomas Hendricks died in office 1899-1901 Garret Hobart died in office 1901-1905 Theodore Roosevelt became President upon the death of William McKinley 1912-1913 James S. Sherman died in office 1923-1925 Calvin Coolidge became President upon the death of Warren G. Harding 1945-1949 Harry Truman became President upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt 1963-1965 Lyndon Johnson became President after assasinating John F. Kennedy 1973 Spiro Agnew went golfing 1974 Gerald Ford became President after liberal forces conspired to force Richard Nixon to resign